Dreadnought: War Mage: Book Two (War Mage Chronicles 2)

by Charles R Case

  Connors spoke up from the helm. “I have us at just over a billion kilometers from our starting position, sir.”

  “Well, that’s impressive,” Grimms said, leaning over the holo display and getting a good look at the planets’ new positions. “What is our elapsed time of flight? And why didn't we feel anything?”

  Cora answered before Connors could speak. “The time was less than a picosecond, so not instantaneous, but close enough to call it such. And we didn't feel anything because, technically, we didn't move. Space moved around us. Sort of.”

  “You’re going to have to explain that better, Captain. We have obviously traveled a billion kilometers,” Grimms said, raising an eyebrow.

  “Basically, I dematerialized the ship then rematerialized it, and in that instant, we no longer existed—we were completely in the Aether. The power I used pushed us through the Aether, to rematerialize here. So we skipped space entirely, and, from a relative perspective, space moved around us.

  “I still can’t tell if we were moving in the Aether or not, but I’ll know more when we do the next jump. I plan on only doing a short one, to compare times, but I would bet it’s the determining factor to distance traveled. When we are in the Aether, my well flows out at an incredible rate; only when we rematerialized did it stop. The timing is what the core controls, otherwise I wouldn't be able to think fast enough to get us back out,” Cora said, obviously making a few discoveries of her own.

  Grimms thought about this for a minute then said, “So, we died and were reborn a picosecond later?”

  Cora considered this. “I suppose you could think of it that way.”

  “Amazing,” Dr. Hess said, his eyes wide in wonder.

  13

  Grimms looked over the report of the morning’s tests, leaning back in the swivel chair in the ready room. In front of him was another cup of coffee, along with a light lunch that someone had left for him while he was in the last test. With one hand, he undid the clasp at the collar of his uniform, trying to relax as best he could before the warp test in an hour.

  In all, Cora had made twenty-two jumps throughout the Sol System. After her initial long jump, she started over at the bottom of the distance scale, making a short jump of only a few hundred meters. She concluded that she could make an even shorter one if Sara were there to give her a precise location. From there, she slowly expanded the jump distance, gauging her Aether well after each jump to determine just how nimble she could be in a fight.

  After the single jumps allowed her to get a baseline for the amount of Aether it took to make them, they did a multiple jump test. At first, it was only two jumps, one after the other in quick succession, but they ended with a ten-jump string that had taken them nearly two billion kilometers when the sequence was finished. Cora reported that she would still be able to power the Aether cannon at least twice after the ten jumps.

  “It looks like the Aether requirement uses the inverse-square law,” Grimms said after swallowing a bite of his sandwich.

  “Good eye, Commander. That’s what my calculations show, as well; twice the distance equals four times the power. I’m working on an optimal set of jumps for distance, and one for power conservation. Honestly, I think those numbers are going to change, though,” Cora said, slightly distracted.

  Grimms put down his sandwich, wiping crumbs from his beard. “Why do you say that?”

  Cora huffed a breath. “Well, I can't say for certain just yet, but I feel like me and the core are… I guess you would call it ‘getting to know one another’. The more I use my Aether, the better the core seems to be able to distribute that power. If you take a look at the jump distances on that ten-jump run, you’ll see what I mean.”

  Grimms pulled the numbers up and scanned them. “The distance increased a little with each jump. You didn't do that on purpose?”

  “No. I was trying to keep my Aether output the same for all ten jumps. I may have gotten it slightly wrong, but not that wrong. There’s a nearly twenty percent difference in the distance, for the same energy output, between the last jump and the first one. There is a bit of a precision problem, without me having an exact position to jump to, but I don't think it would account for twenty percent,” Cora said.

  “So you’re becoming more powerful?”

  “No, not more powerful. The core is just using my ‘brand’ of Aether—for lack of a better term—more efficiently. It’s as if the core is talking with my Aether flow and coaxing more out of it. I honestly don't see what it’s doing differently, mechanically, so it has to be a question of efficiency,” Cora reasoned, and Grimms thought she would have shrugged if she still had control of her body.

  “It could be a question of potency,” Grimms mused, leaning back again and picking up his coffee.

  “Hmm, I hadn’t thought of that. How would it make the Aether more potent, though?”

  Grimms gave a shrug. “I don't know, I’m not a mage. I can barely channel enough Aether to activate a lighter, much less the level of Aether you’re channeling on a daily basis. I’m just the idea guy,” he said with a smile while stroking his short, white beard.

  “Well, it’s an idea… it may even be the answer, but I have no way of testing it ‘til Sara finds out how the cores are made. Right now, we don't even know what element it’s made from; nobody wants to damage it by studying it too aggressively, and a surface scan just throws up errors, as if it can’t get a sample, or even recognize the structure on a molecular scale.” Cora sounded defeated.

  “Don’t worry. Sara will find something; even if she has to blow up a city to find it,” he said, with a chuckle. “You two are more alike than you are different, you know. You’ll push yourselves beyond any reasonable level to get the results you need to do what’s best for your people. Honestly, I’ve never felt safer than I do when I’m here on the Raven.”

  “Even though we’re being pushed to the front line of an ancient conflict?” Cora asked quietly.

  Grimms gave her a smile he wasn’t entirely sure she could see. “Especially when we’re being pushed. You work harder under pressure; that’s a trait I love to see in my captain.”

  Cora laughed lightly. “Commander Grimms, that sounded like a compliment. Don’t go all soft on my account.”

  “Wouldn’t think of it, ma’am,” he said, taking the last bite of his sandwich.

  “God, I miss sandwiches. And beer,” Cora whined. “When I come out of this tank, you’re taking me to go get sandwiches and beer. That’s an order.”

  Grimms gave a laugh at that. “It would be my pleasure, ma’am.” He checked his watch before continuing. “It’s time for the next test. You ready?” he asked, getting up and circling around the desk, making his way for the door.

  “Oh yeah. It’ll be good to get out and stretch my legs.”

  Grimms entered the bridge just as Mezner was approaching. She stopped and gave him a quick salute before taking a seat at her station. Grimms stepped down to the holo projector, occupying the space next to Dr. Hess, and placed his coffee mug on the flat surface of the table-like projector, causing a small distortion in the image of the local star systems.

  “Do we have a heading?” Grimms asked the doctor.

  Dr. Hess nodded. “Intelligence gave us the coordinates. According to the information they gathered from our communications network, it should be far from any traffic.”

  “Good. The last thing we need is to run into an enemy ship without Captain Sonders onboard. How far is the warp?” he asked, noting the two icons in the projection—one golden and one flashing blue—a good distance from any systems.

  Dr. Hess referenced his notes, then said, “We are making a fairly long first warp, about halfway to my home system. Just over twenty-five hundred light years.”

  “How long does it take an Elif ship to travel that far?” Grimms wanted to know.

  Dr. Hess looked to the ceiling, doing some quick math. “At a hard burn, it would take roughly six of your days.”

 
“One hundred forty-four hours,” Grimms calculated. “Let’s see if we can't cut that down a bit, Captain Cora.” He smiled with anticipation. Before the core was installed, their first journey to the derelict shipwreck had been estimated to be around two thousand light years, and Cora had managed that one in three days. He was eager to see what she was capable of now.

  “You got it, Commander. Engaging warp in three, two, one.”

  The view screen smashed its image down to a pinpoint, as the destination and their current location connected through a thread of Aether. After a slight shudder under Grimms’ feet, the image began to slowly expand again.

  “Mezner, what is our ETA?” he asked the blonde woman.

  She was already checking her calculations, and quickly said, “Twelve hours and sixteen minutes, sir.”

  Dr. Hess began excitedly tugging on his ear tip at the news, his eyes wide as he mumbled, “Amazing. Simply amazing.”

  Grimms smiled. “Ten times the speed of the Elif ships. Impressive, Captain.”

  “Thank you, Grimms. I could probably have eked out a little more power, but I didn't want to go all out, just in case.” Cora sounded to be in high spirits.

  Grimms picked up his coffee mug and took a sip. “We really need those cores. I hope Captain Sonders is making headway.”

  “I’m sure she is,” Cora said, her voice not quite as confident as Grimms would have liked.

  14

  “Atlantis?” Boon asked, double-checking that her new Aetheric armor was strapped into the shuttle’s cargo compartment for the third time.

  Sara had requisitioned the shuttle and two personalized Aetheric suits of armor from the UHFC, saying they were taking them out to field test some of her powers, away from the public eye. Word had traveled around of what she was, and the display on the beach the previous afternoon had convinced the requisitions officer that it was a good idea for them to leave the city.

  The suits were printed up from the personalized scans in their files, and an hour later, they were ready to go.

  “That’s what Silva called it. Though when I asked for the exact location, she pointed me to the Azores,” Sara said with a slight grin, adjusting her brown leather jacket.

  They had changed back into their tee shirts and jeans, and Sara had printed them some jackets on the hotel’s public printer to prepare them for the cooler temperatures they were bound to encounter. She never liked the way artificial leathers felt on her skin, but she was not about to drop the kind of money a real leather jacket would cost.

  Silva, draping her skinny ferret body around Boon’s neck, gave Sara a chittering rebuke, to which the captain threw up her hands. “Okay, it’s Atlantis,” she said with a light laugh.

  “Wait, the Azores? The islands out in the Atlantic?” Boon asked, walking over to the controls and reaching for the button to close the ramp.

  There was a metallic clunk that made her spin around in surprise.

  A large man in full Aetheric armor had stepped onto the ramp, and was advancing on her. She held up her hands defensively as the armored man reached up and activated his faceplate to fold back into the helmet.

  “You have room for one more? I’ve always wanted to go to the Azores,” Baxter said, flashing a bright white smile.

  Boon stood up, dropping her hands, her mouth hanging open. “Sergeant Major?”

  “Baxter. What the hell are you doing here?” Sara demanded hotly, stepping around Boon to face off with the much bigger man.

  Baxter gave her a shrug. “Colonel Grimms asked me to keep an eye on you. I think he just wanted someone watching your back,” he said, the smile never leaving his face.

  Shit. How are we supposed to talk with the pixies if he’s tagging along? I can't even mention them around anyone that’s not a War Mage; I don't know what would happen if we actually tried to bring him to their city.

  Sara sighed, crossing her arms. “Are you serious? We’re War Mages. I’m pretty sure we can protect ourselves.”

  Baxter’s eyebrows crawled up his forehead, and he looked over Sara's shoulder at Boon, noticing the ferret for the first time. “Well, I’ll be damned. How the hell did that happen?”

  “It’s a long story, but as you can see, we are fully capable of taking care of ourselves,” Sara insisted with a little more anger than she actually felt. The fact that he was watching out for her made her go a little gooey inside, and she had to fight that part of herself down.

  “I believe there is nothing on Earth that could stop the two of you, after what I saw one War Mage do on Colony 788, but I have my orders. Just think of me as a friend, catching a ride,” he suggested, his smile coming back. “Or I could always catch a ride of my own.”

  Double shit. He knows where we’re going, so there’s nothing keeping him from following us.

  Sara hung her head in defeat. “Fine. Stow your armor, we don't want to scare the locals by showing up in full battle rattle.” She reached over and slapped the ramp controls, forcing Baxter to move quickly to avoid getting caught in the closing gap.

  She stalked to the pilot’s chair and started the engines. As soon as Boon was seated beside her, and Alister was safely in her lap, she punched the throttle, shooting off the landing pad at high acceleration.

  An evil grin lit her face when a bang sounded from the floor of the cargo area, and she heard Baxter curse.

  Boon wisely didn't look back to see if he was okay.

  An hour later, Sara was making a wide, sweeping bank around the eastern most island of São Miguel. Baxter was strapped into one of the passenger seats between the cabin and the cargo area, far enough away that Sara was sure he couldn't hear them talking softly.

  “Is this it?” she asked Alister and Silva, who were both standing on the dashboard, their faces pressed to the window, looking down at the island.

  Silva turned and chattered excitedly, and Boon said, “Yeah, that’s it.”

  “Okay. I’m supposed to aim for the volcanic crater on the west of the island, right?” Sara asked, just to be sure before she began their descent.

  Silva chattered again, and this time Alister joined with a “Merp,” not taking his face from the window.

  Sara circled a few more times, bringing the shuttle lower with each revolution so they could better see the lay of the land from above. When they were only a few hundred meters from the ground, Silva turned and hopped into Boon’s lap. She leaned over the navigation map and pressed a small paw to a location on the screen, leaving a navigational marker.

  “Thanks,” Sara said, giving her a look that said ‘not bad’.

  She leveled out the shuttle and brought it down into a clearing that bordered a thickly wooded area. The gravitic engines kept the noise to a minimum, making the landing a quiet affair.

  She cycled down the engines and put the shuttle in standby as Boon unstrapped and headed back toward the rear of the ship. Baxter undid his own lap belt and fell in behind her. After shutting down the craft, Sara slid out of her seat and joined them as Boon was lowering the ramp.

  “Hold up, big boy, where do you think you’re going?” Sara asked from behind Baxter.

  “I’m going with you. That’s why I’m here,” he reminded her, smiling at her over his shoulder.

  “Not right now. We are meeting with some very shy people, and I don't want you scaring them away. You’re just going to have to wait here.” She crossed her arms to let him know she was serious.

  He didn't seem to take the hint.

  “It’ll be fine. I’ll just keep back, out of the way.”

  Boon—with Silva around her neck, and Alister following closely behind—escaped down the ramp before she could get sucked into the argument.

  Sara sighed in impatience. She leaned in and put a hand to his chest. “Baxter, I know you want to help, and I appreciate that, I really do. But this is a delicate situation, and having you here is throwing a wrench into it. I really need you to stay here, otherwise I’m not going to get anywhere. I’m a Wa
r Mage, I can take care of myself,” she assured him again. By decreasing the space between them, she had been hoping to elicit his feelings to her cause, but her own feelings were rearing their head.

  Fuck. Why does he smell so good?

  “Please?” she pressed on. “Just twenty minutes. I’ll keep in contact the whole—”

  “Uh, Sara?” came Boon’s uncertain voice from outside.

  Sara closed her eyes in frustration, dropping her hand from Baxter’s chest. “Give me a minute, Boon. I’m kinda in the middle of something,” she said, her voice rising an octave.

  “You should probably come out here. Like, right now.”

  Boon’s voice was artificially level, setting off warning bells for her and Baxter both. Together, they turned and ran out the back of the shuttle, their panic rising. Sara leapt from the side of the ramp toward Boon’s voice, her hands coming up, ready for a fight.

  She could see Boon standing stock-still, her hands held up in surrender. Silva and Alister were both on the ground, sitting at attention. All three had their backs to her and were staring into the woods.

  Sara stumbled to a stop beside Boon, one of her eyebrows rising in confusion at the sight before her.

  Standing at the edge of the clearing a few meters away were eleven pixies. Ten of them were standing in a semicircle around a central, female pixie. The ten were obviously guards, in their suits of Aetheric armor, holding coil-rifles. What was odd was that the armor and weapons were nearly identical to the equipment that Sara’s group had stowed on the shuttle. The helmets were slightly different, to accommodate the pixies’ long, pointed ears, but it was the same design otherwise. The weapons were small, but still looked like they could do some serious damage.

  The central figure wore white robes, and her hood was thrown back to reveal a head of strawberry blonde hair with a tan face that was sporting a serious expression. She looked like a priestess to Sara, but the golden tiara she wore on her head suggested nobility.